Keith Arnold

You can tell football season is approaching because the amount of information flowing on the internet is picking up as we head into August. This weekend’s recruiting flurry, with four verbal commitments in a span of 24 hours, has to be one of the better weekends for recruitniks that I can remember. As I mentioned…

In one of the busier 24 hour periods in memory, the Irish picked up two more recruits, their 15th and 16th commitments for the 2011 signing class. There may not have been a more important recruit on the board than defensive end Aaron Lynch, who committed to the Irish this morning live on WNDU-TV in…

What started out as a day of celebration for the Irish with the commitment of four-star running back Justice Hayes, is turning into a bonanza with outside linebacker Anthony Rabasa committing to the Irish as well. Multiple Irish sites along with the Miami Herald report that Rabasa, who just left South Bend after his first…

The Irish added the thirteenth member of their 2011 recruiting class when Michigan running back Justice Hayes committed to the Irish this morning at a press conference at Grand Blanc High School. ISD has the quote of record: “The first thing that was on my mind going into the recruiting process, is I wanted to…

News broke today that both Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate have agreed to terms on their rookie contracts and will be in their respective training camps on time. Clausen’s contract was a four-year deal with $2.53 million in guarantees that could top out at $6.3 million, a somewhat startling number for the 48th pick in…

The recruitment of prized left tackle Seantrel Henderson spells out the messy truth of elite college recruiting: If you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying. In today’s Cleveland Plain Dealer, Doug Lesmerises points out that the Ohio State Buckeyes committed four secondary rules violations while pursuing Henderson, one of many schools to have violated NCAA rules…

Brian Kelly spent Sunday evening at Wrigley Field, throwing out the first pitch and singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame in front of the North Side faithful. UND.com has some great footage of the event, where Kelly went to the top of the mound, toed the rubber and threw a strike to the catcher.…

Late last week, former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Rich Minter spoke with the South Bend Tribune’s Eric Hansen and Darin Pritchett on WSBT 960 AM. They covered a variety of topics, and eventually got around to discussing Minter’s time at Notre Dame under both Lou Holtz and Charlie Weis, and his time working with new…

I had a really good time putting together my Top 25 list, and really liked the diverse opinions we pulled together. If I had to do it over again, I can’t say that I forgot anybody, but I’m taking a leap of faith on guys like Trevor Robinson, Brian Smith, and Cierre Wood — all…

A fun YouTube video is circling the web right now with Notre Dame softball pitcher Jody Valdivia throwing a little BP to wide receiver Michael Floyd and tight end Mike Ragone. Apparently the guys thought they had a chance at taking Valdivia deep in the friendly confines of Melissa Cook Stadium on the Notre Dame…

After the initial news broke about a three game series back in May, Notre Dame and Miami have agreed to renew one of college football’s fiercest rivalries, with the opening salvo coming in 2012 at Soldier Field in Chicago. The Irish and Hurricanes will play at Soldier Field on October 6, 2012, the first time…

News began breaking yesterday afternoon that blue-chip defensive end, one-time Notre Dame commitment, and Cal incoming freshman Chris Martin was looking to transfer. It was first mentioned by ESPN’s Bruce Feldman on Twitter, who heard that Martin was transferring because of distractions at home in the Bay Area. (This was the same hometown that he…

At a press conference later today, the University of Southern California will announce that athletic director Mike Garrett is retiring and NBC television analyst Pat Haden will step out of the booth at Notre Dame stadium and take over the job of athletic director at Southern Cal. This from the official release from new USC…

Tim Prister over at IrishIllustrated.com has a pretty in-depth Q&A with former quarterback and current minor-league baseball player Evan Sharpley about his five years in the Notre Dame football program. Evan opened up about the former coaching staff, his fellow quarterback Jimmy Clausen, and what may have gone wrong during those five years. This is…

(Editor’s note: I understand that there’s still plenty of animosity toward the former head coach of the Irish and Huskies. This isn’t an outlet for commenters to take one last swing at the man, so if things get too out of control, I’ll be quick to remove anything I find too insulting.) Lost in the…

For the rest of the picks, check here for 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, and 10-6. As we wrap up the Top 25 lists, I’ll post the top five players for everyone and then follow-up tonight with some next-level analysis. It’s pretty clear that Michael Floyd, Kyle Rudolph, and Manti Te’o are three of the best players…

The Indiana State Excise Police arrested 44 students on Saturday night after breaking up a party at almost 2:00 a.m., and the police report read like a who’s who of Notre Dame varsity athletes. Eight Notre Dame football players were among the group ticketed, including Nate Montana, Lo Wood, Chris Watt, Roby Toma, Nick Tausch,…

Get caught up on the rankings and read the lists for 25-21, 20-16, and 15-11. As the list gets closer to the top, the usual suspects seem to pop up. I’ll leave the analysis for Monday when we unveil the top-five, but here are the rankings for 10-6 on the Irish roster. Gotta hand it…

If you’re interested in getting caught up, here are the lists for 25-21 and 20-16. Day three of our countdown gets us into the top-flight of Irish players. While we’re only talking about Notre Dame, it’ll be interesting to see how the recruiting rankings of the best players on the Irish roster turn out as…

We’ve known for over a month that Spencer Boyd was transferring out of Notre Dame before ever officially suiting up for the Irish, but for the first time, Boyd shed some light on the situation. Speaking to the Fort Myers News-Press, Boyd confirmed that he was leaving and that some family issues are the reason…

Working off of yesterday’s kick-off to the Top 25 players on the Irish roster, we’re ready to roll out the next five members of the Irish Top-25. But first, a few observations: * 2/3s of us put Nick Tausch in the top-fifth of the roster, which makes sense when you consider that a football team…

As I mentioned last week, ESPN’s top five Notre Dame players got me thinking of a fun summer project that could help us get to preseason training camp. So, without further ado, here’s the official kick-off of said summer project: The Top-25 players on the Irish roster. A little background: Lists like this are by…

For the second time this summer, an early-enrollee won’t be suiting up for the Irish this fall. Both IrishSportsDaily.com and IrishIllustrated.com report that safety Chris Badger will embark on a two-year religious mission beginning in August, putting off both school and football for two years. Badger joins cornerback Spencer Boyd as freshman who left the…

There’s been a lot of interest in yesterday’s topic of ranking Irish players, and I’m thinking about digging into that evaluation this weekend. While Mel Kiper and Todd McShay call talent evaluators and watch “game film,” I’ll rely on a couple cold ones, a scratch notebook, my DVR from last year’s games, and a lot…

Brian Bennett of ESPN.com had a nice rundown of the Notre Dame’s top five players, in addition to the Blue Ribbon Preview of the Irish that’s running between pop-up advertisements for “The Decision,” starring LeBron James. Their analysis of the Irish for next season: Notre Dame’s golden dome has lost some of its shine over…